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Again, very interesting story, but off-topic: http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Off-Topic: Most stories abo

by VMG 15y ago

Again, very interesting story, but off-topic: http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon. Videos of pratfalls or disasters, or cute animal pictures. If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic. On reddit, I'd be in /r/politics.

dbingham 15y ago
You're right. Meanwhile, a story about Arrested Development being shown only on Netflix appears to be unquestionably on topic.
- hugh3 15y ago
  Indeed it is. That's a tech story, of direct relevance to the core topic here, since it's an important milestone in the internet and entertainment industry. Netflix has never before exclusively acquired a show, particularly not a popular one, for streaming purposes. The story generated an interesting discussion about the future of these two industries. This story, on the other hand, is not just a political story but political activism, and needs to be nuked off the face of HN with extreme prejudice, because they're like weeds and have a tendency to take over. The distinction is that people submit and upvote stories like these not because they think they're intellectually interesting, but because they're trying to make something happen politically.
DuncanIdaho 15y ago
I find the comments within stories, that have nothing more to add than "This is Offtopic" way more distracting than the stories themselves, even if they are offtopic. So I see this story, it seems offtopic but intriguing nonetheless. I see there are comments, I click on comments. And what do I get? A gang of self righteous internet citizens informing me that I am not interested in this story and/or debate. Thank you very much, may I be in charge for a while? If you have a problem with story, go and flag it. Preferably just ignore it - it will go away on its own. But don't go around pointing it out. Else you might be caught off guard by the shitstorm of down votes that is going to hit you. Attitudes like this also belong on /r/whatever.
- hugh3 15y ago
  It's not a question of whether it's interesting, it's a question of whether it's on-topic. Certain things are off-topic, because they have a tendency to invite bad comments which drive out good discussion. I'm interested in pictures of cute cats and big tits, as well, but they're not suitable subjects for this site either.
  - JanezStupar 15y ago
    And your bitching all over this thread is off topic on all the counts. Especially the topic of this thread, which is not "What is or is not on topic on HN". GET OFF MY LAWN!
lambada 15y ago
I'd have to disagree with your interpretation of the guidelines. "On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity." I would say that this is interesting and gratifies one's intellectual curiosity - especially for the questions it raises regarding pepper spray usage and police enforcement, along with the wider questions from the various Occupy movements.
- knowtheory 15y ago
  There's a closer connection. HN's population certainly overlaps with the population of US students, and i'd argue that the University of California system is particularly interesting/relevant within the student bodies in the US. When you have faculty members calling for the resignation of one of the UC chancellors, especially in what i'd argue is fairly legitimate grounds (physical harm to unarmed, peaceful students), that is actually a subject of interest.
  - genieyclo 15y ago
    On a number of different subreddits, sure. But on Hacker News?

by VMG 15y ago

dbingham 15y ago

You're right. Meanwhile, a story about Arrested Development being shown only on Netflix appears to be unquestionably on topic.

hugh3 15y ago
Indeed it is. That's a tech story, of direct relevance to the core topic here, since it's an important milestone in the internet and entertainment industry. Netflix has never before exclusively acquired a show, particularly not a popular one, for streaming purposes. The story generated an interesting discussion about the future of these two industries. This story, on the other hand, is not just a political story but political activism, and needs to be nuked off the face of HN with extreme prejudice, because they're like weeds and have a tendency to take over. The distinction is that people submit and upvote stories like these not because they think they're intellectually interesting, but because they're trying to make something happen politically.

DuncanIdaho 15y ago

I find the comments within stories, that have nothing more to add than "This is Offtopic" way more distracting than the stories themselves, even if they are offtopic. So I see this story, it seems offtopic but intriguing nonetheless. I see there are comments, I click on comments. And what do I get? A gang of self righteous internet citizens informing me that I am not interested in this story and/or debate. Thank you very much, may I be in charge for a while? If you have a problem with story, go and flag it. Preferably just ignore it - it will go away on its own. But don't go around pointing it out. Else you might be caught off guard by the shitstorm of down votes that is going to hit you. Attitudes like this also belong on /r/whatever.

hugh3 15y ago
It's not a question of whether it's interesting, it's a question of whether it's on-topic. Certain things are off-topic, because they have a tendency to invite bad comments which drive out good discussion. I'm interested in pictures of cute cats and big tits, as well, but they're not suitable subjects for this site either.
- JanezStupar 15y ago
  And your bitching all over this thread is off topic on all the counts. Especially the topic of this thread, which is not "What is or is not on topic on HN". GET OFF MY LAWN!

lambada 15y ago

I'd have to disagree with your interpretation of the guidelines. "On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity." I would say that this is interesting and gratifies one's intellectual curiosity - especially for the questions it raises regarding pepper spray usage and police enforcement, along with the wider questions from the various Occupy movements.

knowtheory 15y ago
There's a closer connection. HN's population certainly overlaps with the population of US students, and i'd argue that the University of California system is particularly interesting/relevant within the student bodies in the US. When you have faculty members calling for the resignation of one of the UC chancellors, especially in what i'd argue is fairly legitimate grounds (physical harm to unarmed, peaceful students), that is actually a subject of interest.
- genieyclo 15y ago
  On a number of different subreddits, sure. But on Hacker News?